Web Design Hacks: How to Effectively Create Your Digital Presence

Building a website is crucial to creating a digital presence for your organization. While social media and email can also be beneficial, if you don’t have a website to direct consumers to, your strategy will be ineffective. Not only do websites house the main content of your organization but they also work to showcase your brand. Below are a few web design hacks to help create your digital presence.

Web Design Hacks: Emphasize Clarity

Clarity and ease of use are two of the most important attributes of a website. If your users cannot easily navigate around your site, they will leave. This is why clarity should be at the forefront of design choices.

Clear and Accessible Organization

Clear organization begins with an intuitive page layout. Consider what pages visitors are most interested in and make sure those pages are easily found. Of course, each visitor may have different objectives when visiting your site. For example, one visitor may want to purchase a product whereas another visitor may want to read your blog and learn more about the company. With this, it can be difficult to choose a layout and page setup that suits each visitor’s needs. However, with clear labels and links, you can have an intuitive layout.

Having an accessible website is also critical for creating your digital presence. In Jamie Juviler’s article, “9 Guidelines & Best Practices for Exceptional Web Design and Usability,” at HubSpot he discusses the main guidelines to make your website accessible. He says that websites need to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

For more specific guidelines, check out the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by the Web Accessibility Initiative and the World Wide Web Consortium.

Understandable Content

Your content should be just as easy-to-understand as your layout. Make sure that you are using language and terminology that your audience will understand. If you have more technical concepts, such as in B2B, you need to have clear descriptions and definitions. Breaking down difficult concepts can be challenging, however, it will be more difficult for your readers to understand your content without those explanations.

You also need to utilize proper grammar and style. If you make simple grammar mistakes or forget proper punctuation, you will lose credibility. This is why editing plays a key role in making sure your content is readable and without error.

Web Design Hacks: Utilize Design Principles

Design plays an integral role in creating your digital presence as well. Your design needs to complement your content and catch your reader’s eye. Here are a few tips and tricks to boost your website’s design.

Design Basics

There are a number of factors involved in website design. Juviler describes a few of the best practices for website design in his article. He suggests using a typography that is clear and easy to read. You want your typography to represent your brand and display your content clearly.

Juviler also recommends using ample white space to break up blocks of texts or other elements on your site. If there is too much text or images on one page, your website could appear congested. You should also utilize images to further visualize your organization and emphasize your calls to action, says Juviler. Striking images draw readers to your site and help engage them further. Also, emphasizing your calls to action on your site by making them bold or incorporating them into a link will further promote your company.

Brand-Focused

When deciding what colors and typography to use for your site, you need to consider your brand. Pick colors that represent the values of your company. You should have a branding guideline that depicts your main colors, fonts and any supplemental brand information such as secondary colors and approved logos. Every design choice you make should effectively represent your brand. This will also make your website more cohesive overall.

Web Design Hacks: Design for Mobile Devices

Last but not least, you need to design your website for mobile devices. Almost everyone uses smartphones. Therefore, if you do not design your website for mobile, you could confuse or even lose consumers as it will be more difficult to view your content on mobile devices if you only design for desktop.

Responsive Design

Creating a responsive design is one of the best strategies to make sure your website can be viewed on mobile devices and any other kind. Test out how your website looks in different views. If the navigation is too small on mobile, consider changing the position for a cleaner look. All in all, clear organization and a clean, cohesive design will help further establish your digital presence.

Want to learn more web design hacks? Connect with our team at RedMoxy to learn more!